


Zombie Hunters

by andapanda



Category: Trollhunters (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Angst, Blood and Gore, Dismemberment, Gen, Horror, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Zombie Apocalypse, Zombies, and lose something, everyone will suffer, ships aren't the main focus but they are around
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2019-04-24 06:37:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14349978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andapanda/pseuds/andapanda
Summary: 26 hours, it took the world 26 hours to go to hell.When a sudden outbreak of zombies threaten the world, Jim’s biggest concern is for his mother. Will he and his friend make it to her alive and in one piece?





	1. Prologue

The day started just like any other, Jim woke up at 6am, cleaned the house a little and made some food, breakfast for him, lunch for him and Toby and dinner for him mom. Nothing unusual, except for the raccoons knocking down the garbage can, forcing him to clean up a bit as Toby waited for him, reminding him that they were going to be late, which they thankfully avoided by taking the shortcut through the canals.

 

School started off normally as well, though Jim did doze off a little at the start of history class, but he didn’t miss anything too important, the rest of the class was spent staring at his crush, Claire.

 

It wasn’t until right after gym class when things got weird, apparently there had been a really bad car accident in the morning, and during gym, some lunatic had tried to get into school and bit a teacher.

 

Not long after that, things got much worse.


	2. In dark times

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jim makes a decisions when he finds a new ray of hope.

26 hours, it took the world 26 hours to go to hell. Jim looked at his phone again, not only to look at the time, but the empty bars at the top of the screen of his slowly dying phone.

 

“Still no signal?” Toby asked as he came up from behind Jim.

 

“No, nothing,” Jim confirmed, locking his phone as Toby sat next to him on the bleachers.

 

“How’s your knee?” Toby jabbed at his friend bandaged leg, making him flinch. It was a crude fix and mostly just to keep pressure on the knee.

 

“Oh you know, little sore, little swollen, still hurts when you poke it.” Jim nudged Toby as he bent his knee, thankfully it wasn’t too bad, he was just unlucky to trip over a bike when they all ran to barricade themselves in the gym.

 

There was a sizable group hiding away in the large hall, and to Jim’s relief, Claire was one of them, but even that couldn’t take his mind off of his mother, he had been able to call her before the lines stopped working and the electricity went out. She was alright then, but that was hours ago and Jim was worried.

 

“Hey! You two, huddle up,” Coach Lawrence called at the two boys on the bleachers, everyone had huddled up at the center of the gym and were talking about something. Jim and Toby joined them and much to Jim’s joy, he was now standing next to Claire, and using this opportunity he decided to talk to her.

 

“So uh, what’s going on?” He asked her.

 

“No idea, Coach just asked us all to come here.” Claire answered before looking at who had asked. “John?”

 

“Uhm, Jim” He corrected her, but a bit happy that she at least got the first letter right, he took his victories when he could.

 

“Oh, yeah, sorry.” She apologised and it got quiet between them again. But it was still a victory for Jim, as he was starting to get more comfortable with talking to her, or maybe it was just because of their situation.

 

“Alright, listen up.” Coach Lawrence called over everyone. “Obviously we’re not in an ideal situation here and hopefully we’ll be rescued.”

 

“Probably shouldn’t have used hopefully there.” Toby whispered to Jim.

 

“Pay attention Domzalski,” Coach called, causing Toby to straighten up quickly. “Me, Señor Uhl and Principle Levit will be heading off to the kitchen’s and getting some more food, meanwhile Miss Janeth will be in charge.”

 

This caused everyone to murmur amongst themselves, there weren’t a lot of adults in the gym with them so it made some quite anxious to hear that the three more capable of them all were leaving, not that they didn’t trust Miss Janeth or the couple of other teachers with them, it was just the fact that Uhl and Lawrence where probably the most fit out of them all.

 

“Quiet down, we will only take a few minutes.” Señor Uhl said, the murmurs didn’t die down much with that however, everyone was scared and had a hard time believing what was truly happening.

 

“Now look, we need you all to stay put in here and keep the doors closed.” Coach Lawrence said before he moved into the gym storage while everyone else stood still, nervous murmurs being the only sound in the hall.

 

“Well...at least we won’t starve to death.” Toby said with an awkward laugh following it.

 

“That is if they can get to the kitchen and back.” Jim said as he limped away from the crowd and back towards the bleachers.

 

“What are you thinking Jimbo.” Toby stated rather than asked, following his friend.

 

“What?” Jim was slightly confused at Toby’s remark. “I’m not thinking anything Tobes, except for the obvious.”

 

“Oh, so you’re  _ not _ thinking about maybe trying to get to the hospital and see your mom?” Toby asked, placing his hands on his hips as he gave Jim a knowing look. “Look, I know you’re worried Jim, I am too, but going out there, it’s suicide.”

 

“I have to know Tobes,” Jim sighed as he sat down.

 

“I know Jim,” Toby said as he sat next to his best friend. “I want to check on nana but…”

 

The two then sat in silence for a while, watching coach Lawrence bring a bag and a couple of baseball bats, the trio that was going out would at least be prepared in case something happens while they were out there. Eventually the barricades were moved and the three men were out while everyone waited in anticipation.

 

“I have to try.” Jim muttered, staring at his hands, resting on his lap. Toby stayed quiet, only placing his hand on his back, he knew how close the mother and son duo were, and he certainly was close to his own nana.

 

They sat like that for almost an hour, which was when someone finally pointed out just how long the teachers and principal had been gone.

 

“The kitchen’s are on the other side but it shouldn’t have taken them this long.” Miss Janeth was heard talking to another teacher, Mrs.Sharpe by the looks of it.

 

“I know, but considering our situation…” Mrs.Sharpe trailed off.

 

“But an hour?” Miss Janeth said, obviously worried, but the two women were cut off with the frantic knocks on the doors.

 

“Open up, we’re here!” It was Coach Lawrence, and it didn’t take long for the doors to be open for them, him and Señor Uhl rushed in, blood and viscera all over them as they rushed to close the doors behind them. “Hurry! The Barricade!”

 

It didn’t take long for for the barricade to be back up as the two men where on their hands and knees, panting heavily.

 

“Where’s Principal Levit?” Someone asked in the crowd surrounding the two men, Jim and Toby curiously watching from the back.

 

“He….He got caught.” Coach Lawrence said in between breaths. “Those things...they tore into him like he was nothing.”

 

That caused a lot of people to start crying and bombard them with questions of what would happen to them, if they were really going to be rescued and things like that.

 

“Now calm down everyone!” Miss Janeth called over everyone, her voice cracking slightly as she did. “Panicking won’t do us any good.”

 

Miss Janeth and the other teachers helped the two tired men up while one went for the bag they brought in with them. The adults then moved over to the storage room, closing the doors behind them.

 

“I wonder what they’re talking about.” Mary questioned, she was pale after seeing all that blood.

 

“I don’t know...” Darci trailed off next to her, glancing at the door.

 

“Let’s find out.” Claire then said as she quickly but quietly to the storage room doors. Jim wasn’t far behind her either while a crowd formed a semi circle around them all.

 

_ “They grabbed him and just started tearing him apart”  _ It was Coach who was speaking.  _ “We tried helping him but, those things wouldn’t stop.”  _

 

_ “In the end ve…..ve took what ve had got and ran.”  _ This time it was Señor Uhl.  _ “There vas nothing ve could do…” _

 

There was a pause, making Jim and Claire ready to move if they had to, but they didn’t hear anything, no movement, no nothing.

 

_ “You said you went to Levit’s office?”  _ It was Miss Janeth, her voice quiet and reserved.  _ “For his radio, right?” _

 

_ “Yeah…”  _ Coach Lawrence answered  _ “We tried to see if there was anyone out there…” _

 

_ “And?”  _ Mrs.Sharpe asked, eager to know.

 

_ “Ve got through to the hospital.”  _ This got Jim interested, pressing himself closer to the door, trying to hear better.  _ “They said that they were holed up in the east wing.” _

 

Jim couldn’t believe it, there were survivors in the hospital, his mom could be one of them!

 

_ “Mr.Strickler was there as well.”  _ Coach Lawrence continued and Jim had to admit he was a little happy knowing that, no one knew what had become of the history teacher after his class and some had started thinking of the worst.

 

“So, what are they talking about?” Someone asked in the back, causing them to be shushed quickly.

 

_ “What should we tell the kids?”  _ Another teacher asked,  _ “We can’t exactly lie to them.” _

 

_ “They already know about Levit, and I see no reason to lie to them about the hospital.”  _ Miss Janeth reasoned.  _ “But more importantly, the food.” _

 

_ “It’s not much.”  _ Uhl admitted.  _ “Ve vill have to go again if ve are not rescued in the next few days.” _

 

There was a pause in the storage room now, and Jim decided he had heard enough while Claire stayed with her ear still pressed to the door.

 

“So?” Toby asked but by the looks of everyone standing behind him, everyone was wondering what he had heard through the door.

 

“They just talked about Principal Levit and that we might need more food.” Jim said, pausing slightly before continuing on about the hospital. “They got a radio in Principal Levit’s office, they got through to the hospital, there are survivors.”

 

This caused some smiles on the teens faces, a ray of hope knowing that at least they weren’t alone.

 

“There’s no way, hospitals are death traps in zombie apocalypses!” Steve exclaimed, pushing through the crowd to stand right in front of Jim, who was not in the mood to deal with him at the moment.

 

“Well that’s what I heard.” Jim practically glared at Steve.

 

“You just want to believe your mom is still alive.” Steve shot at Jim, causing the crowd to gasp at his remark, despite many of them hoping that their own parents were alright.

 

Jim clenched his fist, dangerously close to hitting the blonde in front of him, only stopped by the sound of the storage doors opening up behind him and the rest of the crowd moving back to the teachers. Though Jim told them what he had heard, they wanted a confirmation from the teachers themselves, which they got, they did come into contact with the people hiding in the hospital, that Mr.Strickler was there and unfortunately, that the food they got wouldn’t be enough.

 

“What are we going to do?” Mary asked, clutching Darci who was standing next to her.

 

“We’re going to stay here, where we’re safe and wait for rescue.” Coach Lawrence explained, trying his best to keep everyone calm in the situation, the fact that he was covered in blood wasn’t helping. But everyone was now talking amongst themselves, everyone familiar enough with the zombie genre to know that the zombies weren’t the only thing they had to worry about.

 

It took some time for everyone to calm down again, sitting down in their own friend groups, with Jim and Toby back on the bleachers with a few others around them.

 

“So, what are you going to do?” Toby asked, knowing his friend well enough that Jim was trying to come up with a plan on how to get to the hospital.

 

“I don’t know, Tobes.” Jim answered, leaning back against the bleachers. “But she could be alive at the Hospital and...I need to know.”

 

“I know,” Toby said, knowing well enough that there was no stopping Jim when it came to caring about his mom. “So what’s the plan?”

 

“I’m not going to ask you to go out there with me.” Jim knew that going all the way across town to find his mom would be dangerous, he didn’t want to risk anyone else's life.

 

“You’re not getting rid of me that easy Jimbo, besides, you’d do the same for me.” Toby reasoned, lifting his fist up. Jim smiled and bumped his fist, glad that he at least wouldn’t have to do this alone.

 

“If you’re going out there, I’m coming with you.” The two boys looked at who had spoken up, it was Claire, standing in front of them.

 

“Claire?” Jim asked, now worried that he’s dragging even more people into danger.

 

“I need to see my brother and my parents.” She established, looking more determined as she went on. “Besides, we all know we can’t stay here forever.”

 

“But Claire..” Jim began, only to be interrupted.

 

“Either I go with you or I go alone.” She stated as she crossed her arms, looking at them with determination, letting them know she was serious.

 

“Guess there’s no stopping you.” Jim said with a short laugh, remembering just how much he really liked the girl in front of him, and who knew, maybe he’d get to know her a little better with this, despite the life or death situation they would be getting themselves into, guess teenage hormones played a role.

 

“So you guys have a plan.” She then asked with a smile, sitting down on the step below the boys.

 

“Well….we don’t have one...yet.” Jim scratched the back of his head. “But we’ll probably have to sneak out at night.”

 

“Obviously, but how? All the doors have a barricade.” Toby pointed out. “If we go out, we could put everyone in danger.”

 

“We’re going to need someone on the inside.” Claire said, stroking her chin as she thought.

 

“But who?” Toby asked, looking around to figure out who might be willing to help them out. Steve and his friends would never help them out, and Eli and the nerds might have some issues as well and Shannon and what was left of the student council would most likely try to stop them. Mary and Darci on the other hand were friends with Claire.

 

“We can figure that out later, more importantly, what are we going to do once we get out?” Jim added, nervous about how to protect themselves, or what they needed.

 

“Well we should probably try to stay away from the kitchens now.” Toby suggested, gesturing to the now slightly less bloody teachers.

 

“Good idea, but the zombies have probably moved around already.” Claire pointed out, trying to map out a way in her head. “If we try to find an emergency exit, it might be safer than going out through the courtyard.”

 

“That’s a good idea Claire, but we’re going to have to stop by a classroom on our way.” Jim said, causing the two to look at him with mild confusion. “We need a first aid kit.”

 

“Of course! How could I forget.” Toby exclaimed, lightly hitting himself on the head. “Along with that we’ll need weapons.”

 

“They have metal bats and other sport equipment in the storage room. We could maybe nab a few.” Claire suggested “And maybe some of the under armour from the sports teams.”

 

“Anything that can prevent us from getting bit is a good idea in my books.” Toby affirmed, though they all agreed with him in that regard.

 

“Alright, so weapons and first aid kit, now we just need a route.” Jim said with a hopeful smile.

 

“Oh but we’re forgetting something Jimbo.” Toby stated before poking Jim’s sore knee.

 

“It’s not that bad Tobes, and I only have a minor limp.” Jim defended himself, bending his knee slightly to keep the blood flowing. “I can still run.”

 

“Alright, but what if the zombies can run too?” Toby then added. “Which brings me to my other points, we don’t know what kind of zombies we’re dealing with here.”

 

“Toby’s got a point here.” Claire admitted “How much did you guys see?”

 

“Well I don’t think they can run, when I tripped they didn’t move any faster.” Jim pointed out, thinking back to the event.

 

“Alright, so we’re dealing with slow walkers, that’s not too bad.” Toby smiled, relieved that at least there wouldn’t be  _ too  _ much running.

 

“That just begs the question how they know what to eat.” Claire said. “Can they see, smell or hear?”

 

“I guess we’ll just have to find out.” Jim didn’t like that, but it wasn’t like they could ask the teachers without raising suspicion and most likely being stopped.

 

With the basis for a plan down, the three started trying to put it all together, to plan a route through the town to get to the hospital as quick as possible and hopefully without running into too much trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, the first chapter of this Zombie AU, I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> I'd like to thank my good friend Sketch for being my beta and helping me loads with writing the chapter.


	3. Plots and Allies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to work that plan.

It took a few days for Jim, Toby and Claire to gather what they needed without getting caught or anyone getting suspicious, but there had been another food run which thankfully ended without incident so everyone managed to stay calm for the most part.  
  


“So what are we going to about our inside man?” Toby asked the others as they looked over Jim’s knee, which had managed to heal somewhat, but the bandages where kept on for safety reasons.  
  


“I don’t know, we need to ask someone we know won’t sell us out.” Claire pointed out as she sat down next to Jim.  
  


“So Steve is definitely off the list.” Toby joked as he leaned back against the bleachers. “And rumour has it that Shannon’s been embellishing so she’s also a no go.”  
  


“Well, it’s not like they were even on the list in the first place.” Jim smiled, thinking about how weird it would be if Steve would help them. “What about Mary and Darci? They’re your best friends, right Claire?”  
  


“Yeah, they might be a little hesitant but they’ll probably help out.” Claire nodded before standing up. “I’ll go talk to them.”  
  


With that she went over to her friends to ask them about their plan, while the two boys were left alone together.  
  


“So loverboy, had the chance to talk to Claire a lot these past three days.” Toby nudged Jim while wiggling his eyebrows at his friend suggestively, causing Jim to push his friend back.  
 

“Shut up Tobes, there are more important things going on.” Despite his remark, Jim couldn’t help but smile. Even with the looming threat of the trip to the hospital, he had to admit that he was a little happy that Claire would be there with them.  
  


“Whatever you say Jimbo.” Toby laughed, it was a lighthearted moment between the two, something they needed with all the death walking around them all.  
  


It may have been four days since the whole mess started, but at least they were handling it decently, no one had started a riot nor had anyone really lost it yet after the initial panic. Most of the kids were worried about their parents and wanted to see them, but no one had tried to go out yet, but who knew, maybe they weren’t the only ones planning out a way home.  
  


“Jim, you there?” Toby asked as he waved his hand in front of Jim’s face. “You just zoned out there.”  
  


“Sorry Tobes, just thinking.” Jim explained, looking over to where Claire was talking to her friends, where Claire looked to be practically begging while the others looked very unsure.  
  


“Thinking about what?” Toby asked, following his gaze down at the girls.  
  


“Nothing in particular really.” Jim answered before he went back to looking around, noticing the teachers counting what was left of the food, which made him think, they probably would have to go to the kitchen to get some water and other necessities.  
  


It stayed mostly quiet after that and it was night time before they knew it and everyone got as comfortable as they could on the gym mats on the floor and under the few things they could use as blankets. No one really complained about it anymore, mostly just that they were tired due to lack of sleep and stress.  
  


“Hey, you guys?” Someone whispered close to the two boys making them both look.  
  


“Eli?” Jim asked, just barely seeing in the darkness.  
  


“I overheard you the other day, you’re planning on sneaking out, right?” Eli asked quietly, trying not to bother anyone.  
  


“You’re not going to tell on us, are you?” Toby questioned, peering through the dark to see the small boy.  
  


“No, no, of course not.” Eli defended himself quickly, still trying to stay quiet. “I just wanted to offer some help...if you need it.”  
  


The two boys looked at each other with the best of their abilities, surprised by the offer but glad to at least know that they had some more help in getting out of the gym without putting anyone else in danger.  
  


“Thanks Eli.” Jim was relieved, he knew that Mary and Darci would probably help, but the confirmation of Eli helping them did reassure Jim a little.  
  


No one slept much that night and so ended up being as tired as usual the next day. There wasn’t much anyone could really do so many had resulted in taking naps throughout the day if they got the chance. Jim, Toby and Claire  sat on the bleachers, now joined by Mary, Darci and Eli.  
  


“You guys are _really_ going through with this?” Darci asked in disbelief, looking at the three as if they were crazy.  
  


“Yeah.” Claire confirmed, grabbing Darci’s hands. “We need to know, Darci.”  
  


Darci smiled back at her friend and nodded. “I know, I just wanted to be sure.”  
  


“So, what’s your plan?” Eli asked, looking genuinely curious as to what they were going to do, Toby was the one who explained the plan in short and that they already had the things they needed  
 

“So when are you guys planning on going?” Mary asked, causing the trio to look at each other, they hadn’t thought of when they would leave, but they all knew that they would have to go sooner rather than later.  
  


“Tonight…” Jim finally said, looking at both Claire and Toby who nodded, letting him know that they agreed with him. “We’ll have to go tonight.”  
  


“You’ll need someone to distract the teachers then.” Darci suggested. “I can help with that.”  
  


“What about the barricade?” Eli pointed out. “It’s going to make some noise, they’ll know.”  
  


There was a pause as another flaw in their plan made itself known, if they wanted to get out quickly and without being stopped by anyone, they had to get past the barricade and through the doors without being stopped by the teachers or anyone else. This could be difficult, even  if the teachers are going to be distracted.  
  


“Maybe we could do it quietly?” Tovy suggested, causing Mary to roll her eyes.  
  


“Yes, Toby, let’s do it quietly, no one thought of that” Mary chided, shaking her head.  
  


“I think that’s all we can do.” Claire then said. “If we try to move the stuff away from the door quietly, they might just think the sounds are from the zombies coming from outside and not light a candle.”  
  


“So, if I talk to whatever teacher will be on look out tonight and try to keep their attention away from you guys, it could work!” Darci exclaimed as she stood up in excitement, she was getting quite excited that they at least had something new to do. “Let’s just hope that I don’t have to distract Señor Uhl.”  
  


As luck would have it, Uhl was one of two teachers that were on look out that night.  
  


“You guys better do this quickly.” Darci told the group as they pretended to get ready to sleep for the night. They had all their stuff ready to go, hidden in the barricade by the back door that was partially hidden thanks to the bleachers.  
  


“Sorry Darci.” Claire apologized to her friend and rested her hand on her shoulder. “Just try to keep them distracted, alright?”  
  


Darci sighed as she started trying to figure out what she could use to distract the Austrian teacher. Meanwhile, everyone else waited for time to pass, until everyone was either asleep or at least trying to.  
  


When it was well into the night, they started moving. They moved slowly and as quietly as they could, trying not to make a sound that the teachers would find suspicious. Darci on the other hand did make more noise as she made her way over to the teachers. Uhl wasn’t very happy that she wasn’t sleeping but didn’t scold her too much when she started asking some questions about the possibility of rescue and such. This was good enough for the others to be able to move to the doors without getting noticed, and so, they started trying to remove the barricade.  
  


They took out the kit bag with all their equipment first, Jim taking out the metal bat so he wouldn’t have to do it later. Then they moved on to the balance beam against the door, they all helped lift it up which made it easy to move without making any noise, then the broken mat trolley was next, they tried placing it down with as little noise as possible but it just so happened to have a squeaky wheel so of course it had to squeak the moment they all let go of the trolley and moved it slightly.  
  


They all froze and quickly looked over to where Darci was with the teachers, it was obvious they had heard the squeak and were looking their way, but thankfully they couldn’t see them properly thanks to the darkness, although thanks to the candle lighting the teachers and Darci, the group by the door could see them. Thankfully Darci managed to get their attention back and they could start moving the barricade again.  
  


There weren’t any more incidents like that again, but once it came to the last piece of the barricade, they had to move the vault box without making a sound and those things weren’t known for being silent.  
  


“Should we just….do it quickly and run out?” Toby suggested, keeping his voice down.  
  


“I think that’s all we can do.” Jim whispered back before he went and picked up the kit bag, placing it comfortably on his back.  
  


“ _What_ are you dweebs doing?” The group turned around quickly, peering their eyes in the dark to see Steve standing there.  
  


“We’re leaving, Steve.” Claire answered, moving closer to Steve so that she wouldn’t have to speak louder.  
  


“You’re going to die out there.” He whispered back.  
  


“We have a plan, ok.” Claire began, looking past Steve to where Darci was trying to keep Uhl’s attention, letting her know that they really had to hurry if they wanted to get out without being stopped. “We know what we’re doing.”  
  


Steve looked at her warily, debating if he really should help them or not. Steve sighed before moving to the vaulting box. “You guys owe me for this.”  


The group smiled as they also moved over to the vaulting box and got ready to push the box. When they pushed the box it predictably made a noise that made everyone who was awake notice, including Uhl and the other look-out teacher, who stopped talking to Darci now and took their candle to move over to where the noise was coming from.  


“Come on, we can open the door now.” Claire pointed out and quickly moved over to the door, being joined by Jim and Toby at the door.  


“Wait, weapons!” Jim pointed out and got ready to take off the kit bag.  


 “Vats going on?” Uhl called out from behind them, getting closer.  


 “No time, you have the bat, let’s go!” Toby said before the three opened the door and quickly closed them behind them, leaving the safety of the gym.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And chapter 2 is here already!  
> I will be updating pretty sporadicly so keep an eye out!


	4. Running From Danger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> and they're out of the gym, what could possibly go wrong.

In the hallway, the three looked around to try to see if there was anything there, but before they could see anything, they heard the groans of the undead, causing them to freeze for a second.   
  


“Come on.” Claire urged, grabbing the two boys and running in the opposite direction, it wasn’t where they planned to go but it was the safer option by far.

  
The trio ran through the school hallways despite the low visibility and the more they ran, the more zombies they seemed to attract and they ended up having to run upstairs which was somewhere they didn’t want to be.  
  


“So….this sucks.” Toby tried joking, the group now at a dead end with a small group of the undead cornering them.   
  


“Not the time, Tobes.” Jim muttered, holding the bat in front of him, trying to tell himself to just hit one but having a difficult time moving forward. Claire was rummaging through the kit bag to find another weapon, finding the only other bat they had, a wooden one, that they could get away with without anyone could notice.   
  


“Anything left in there for me?” Toby asked, already knowing that there were only three yoga mats left in the bag now that Jim and Claire had bats.   
  


Jim looked around to see if there was any other way out for them, but only saw a classroom right behind the zombies in front of them, but there was something else he spotted closer to them, a fire axe in a glass case on the wall right in the middle of them and the dead. Jim nudged Toby with his elbow, trying to point him to what he saw but it only left Toby confused. While he still had time, Jim handed Toby the metal bat and ran to the glass case, crashing his body into it to break it. Pieces of glass flew out and cut Jim’s right cheek, right underneath his eye, but he ignored the blood trickling down his cheek and grabbed the axe, getting back to his friends right before a zombie had the chance to grab him.   
  


“Good thinking.” Claire said, trying not to let her worry be noticeable in her voice but glad that they had a better weapon that just a couple of bats.   
  


They were backed up against the wall now with more zombies than before in front of them.   
  


“We need to get inside that classroom.” Jim said, pointing to the door behind the hoard and finally managed to bring himself to move forward, swinging his axe into the undead with all the strength he could muster, the axe getting lodged inside its head. The other two followed suit, swinging their bats as hard as they could into the zombies bodies.   
  


They kept swinging as much as they could, focusing more on getting into the classroom rather than killing the living dead. When they finally got to where they wanted to be, the hoard had gotten bigger than when they started and they were getting more tired by the second. Toby was the one who opened the door with Claire following him inside and grabbing Jim by the shirt and dragging him inside and the three of them closing the door quickly behind them.   
  


But that wasn’t the end of it, as the zombies kept banging on the door, quickly breaking the small glass window. Jim and Toby tried to keep the door closed without getting grabbed by the undead, which was becoming more and more difficult. Claire meanwhile got a table to put in front of the door, adding chairs and another table as she went on, which gave the boys a chance to move away from the door and help her barricade the door.   
  


Eventually they had everything heavy enough in front of the door and could breathe for a minute, not long after that the banging stopped and they were safe for the moment.   
  


“We almost died.” Toby stated in between pants, more to himself than anyone else as he sat down on the floor, with Jim and Claire joining him.   
  


“Jim, you alright?” Claire asked, referring to the bleeding wound on his cheek.   
  


“Yeah.” He answered, wiping some of the blood away with his hand.   
  


Claire stood up and got the classrooms first aid kit and started looking for some bandaids and something to clean up the wound. She picked up an antiseptic pad and started cleaning the wound before putting on a bandaid.   
  


“Thanks.” Jim said, blushing slightly as she dressed his wound.   
  


“As happy as I am for you two, we need to re work this plan.” Toby stated, causing the other two to quickly part.   
  


“Well uhm, the wooden bat might not last long.” Claire started, showing the boys the part of the bat that was already wearing down from the beating.   
  


“But now we have an axe!” Toby pointed out. “That’s a good thing.”   
  


“And we have a first aid kid now.” Claire added, making sure the kit had everything it should have.   
  


“But we’re stuck on the second floor.” Jim then said, starting to point out the bigger issues they had.   
  


“And we are going to need food.” Claire said, insinuating exactly what Jim had been thinking for some time now.   
  


“And the zombies are attracted to sound.” Toby pointed out with a sigh. “Those are the worst kind.”   
  


“So we’re either going to get to the kitchens as quietly as possible or we need to raid one of the houses closest to the school…” Jim said as he massaged his knee, which was slightly sore from the running.   
  


“We shouldn’t take anything from the kitchens.” Claire added. “The others need that food more than we do.”   
  


“So we should try to find an empty place nearby that might have food.” Jim stated, trying to figure out which building could possibly have everything they would need.   
  


“We should also think about a way out of this place, you know, without dying...preferably.” Toby said dryly, causing the other two to laugh slightly.   
  


“We could try going out the window?” Jim suggested, wondering if they could use anything to climb down with.   
  


“Well it’s either that or waiting for the zombies outside to move again.” Claire noted as she wasn’t a huge fan of jumping out a second floor window.   
  


“We don’t have time for that.” Jim declared, wanting to get to the hospital sooner rather than later.   
  


“Well that just leaves the window.” Toby said, not looking forward to having to climb. “But how are we going to go down?”   
  


“Toby’s right, we don’t have anything to climb down with.” Claire pointed out as she looked around the room to see if there was anything they could use as rope, she couldn’t see anything and she cursed that they didn’t nab any jump ropes out of the gym storage room.   
  


As much as Jim didn’t want to stand up again, he forced himself to do it and limped slightly to the window, looking at the ground below. It was a way down so jumping wasn’t an option even if they could survive the fall, the risk of broken bones was too high.   
  


“We could try using one of the yoga mats, anchor it to the window.” Jim began, trying to visualise his plan.   
  


“That won’t even make it all the way down.” Toby said, joining Jim by the window and looked down, not liking the distance at all. “Even with the mat, it’ll still be a way down.”   
  


“But we’re less likely to break bones.” Jim explained, looking around once more if there where any zombies around that could make their plan even more difficult, but with the lack of light, it was hard to tell. “Do you have any other ideas?”   
  


“Jim’s right, we don’t have much of a choice.” Claire said as she walked to the window with a yoga mat in hand. “I say we use the straps on the mat and tie them to a table.”   
  


“Good idea.” Jim agreed as he moved to get a table at the end of their barricade. “I don’t see any zombies outside.”   
  


Toby went to help Jim move the table over to the window where Claire quickly started tightly tying the straps to the legs. They opened the window once they were sure that the straps where secure, they tried placing the table against the wall so that it wouldn’t fall out of the window with them.   
  


“So….who should go first?” Toby asked, prompting the other two to look at him. “No, no way, I am not going first.”   
  


“You’re the heaviest Tobes, it’s better that me and Claire hold the table in place.” Jim reasoned, causing Toby to give him a disgruntled look as he knew Jim was right.   
  


“Fine, but you two better not start making out or something.” Toby made sure to throw a jab at the two as he got ready to climb down the mat. He grabbed the sides of the mat and scrunched it between his legs for a better grip as he slowly started climbing down, he had a very tight grip so he moved very slowly until he ran out of mat.   
  


“The things I do to survive.” He said out loud to himself as he let go of the mat with his legs, his hands slipping down before he managed to get a tighter grip.   
  


“You alright Tobes.” Jim quietly called down to his friend, barely being able to look out the window as he was still making sure the table was still.   
  


“Y..yeah.” Toby called back, looking down at the ground below him, thankfully it didn’t look too far down as his arms were getting very tired, so he tried moving down a little more with just his hands, he didn’t get much farther but he at least managed to hold on until he finally had to let go and he fell down to the ground without incident, only hurting his butt which he landed on.   
  


The other two felt the pull on the table suddenly stop and looked out the window, seeing Toby sitting on the ground, rubbing his sore bottom as he looked up at the two, waving up at them to let them know he was alright.   
  


“Alright, you’re next.” Jim said to Claire, who seemed a little reluctant at first before nodding and moving to climb down the mat. She had a better time climbing compared to Toby and managed to get down without incident. Jim wasn’t far behind with the kit bag, hoping that he wouldn’t pull the table out with him.   
  


He moved slowly, trying not to make any sudden movements that could move the table. He slowly slipped down until he was only holding on with his hands and was close enough to the ground to let go and join his friends.   
  


“Let’s never do that again.” Toby said after Jim had landed on the ground in front of him.   
  


“Agreed.” Jim said as the other two helped him stand up again.   
  


They started hearing some groans coming their way as they hadn’t been as quiet as they had hoped to be so it was time to get moving. Before they started moving they grabbed their weapons, Jim grabbed the metal bat, Claire the wooden one and Toby grabbed the fire axe. With that the trio moved quickly to a house not far from the school hoping that it was empty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I'd like to thank my wonderful and amazing friend Sketch for being my beta and helping me write this.
> 
> As well, more frequent updates and chapter 4 will most likely be up soon enough, though as I will be on a shoot over the weekend I'm not sure how much writing will be done.


End file.
